That's How We Roll

Happily, I made it back from Brooklyn in time to have dinner with Andrew tonight.  Our Valentine's Days are pretty low-key but we wanted to make sure we were spending our first Valentine's holiday as a married couple in the same state!

Driving into Boston, the Valentine gods were smiling on us since we were able to score an awesome parking spot right away on Newbury street.

Walking down Boylston, we caught a glimpse of the Prudential Center all lit up in honor of the holiday (excuse the blurriness, we could not get the camera to focus):

No surprise to those who know us, we had dinner at the Parish Cafe - yummy and not crowded, no reservation needed and just our style:

The warm(ish) weather made it comfortable to walk around and admire sights such as the lit trees along Comm Ave:

We snapped this attempt at a clearer picture of the Pru on our way to our final destination:

Our date night ended, as all good dates should, with frozen yogurt at BerryLine.  The counter girls dressed with pink flowers in their hair and pink beads around their necks, but I spared them from a pictue and opted for the festive sign up front: 

Baked Love

Here's a roundup of things that I baked over the weekend to help celebrate Valentine's Day.

Pumpkin bread for Andrew (this is usually his birthday request but he missed out the past year since we were on our honeymoon):

Pear-blueberry muffins baked in special Wilton silicone heart-shaped cups that Andrew had gotten me as a stocking stuffer two Christmases ago. I brought these along as a surprise for my coworkers since we were stuck in a half-day workshop in Brooklyn:

Chocolate chip shortbread (in this case, cut into hearts and dipped in chocolate as a favor for a coworker, who gifted it to his girlfriend). I (we) loved this recipe so much that I've made it three times in the past week - I promise to post the recipe and details later this week:

Here's hoping your Valentine's day was filled with tasty things as well!

Nothing Says I Love You...

...like homemade cinnamon rolls...

Hot out of the oven...

Slathered with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting dripping off the sides...

Andrew and I agreed early on in our relationship that we wouldn't exchange gifts for Valentine's Day or anniversaries. We do enough gift giving on birthdays and Christmas, plus, we need to save up all the money we can to buy a house and furnish it. So for Valentine's Day, I decided to put in the extra effort (as in two hours worth of prepping and baking time) to make Andrew cinnamon rolls for breakfast. It was well worth the effort, and much appreciated. Plus, we've feasted all weekend on them (they're still mighty tasty after being warmed up in the microwave). Just a natural (and as Amy would put it, obvi) way to show my love.

Just a reminder, please vote for me and Andrew in the Crate & Barrel Ultimate Wedding contest.

Happy [Work] Valentine's Day

In elementary schools everywhere, children will be exchanging cartoon valentines and eagerly opening their colorfully decorated  valentine mailboxes. I'm not going to lie, I miss those days!

It's been a busy baking week for me, I did another batch of the chocolate chip cookie dough brownies for a bake sale to benefit the American Cancer Society last night (I also have to add that they went quickly and people were asking if I'd make them again) and I knew I wanted to make something for my coworkers on Friday in honor of Valentine's Day.

So I kept it simple. Red velvet cupcakes, pink tinted cream cheese frosting and a red heart top it off.

I don't think anyone will be complaining about not getting a valentine. Especially since the cupcakes would be hard to squish into the slot cut into the top of a shoe box.

Just a reminder, please vote for me and Andrew in the Crate & Barrel Ultimate Wedding contest. And tell your friends! :)

My Surprise For Andrew

After we went out to dinner with my Uncle Rich and my cousin Andrew, we headed back to my place to feast on the Cabot's ice cream cake I ordered as surprise for Andrew. Cabot's is this great family-owned restaurant in Newton that has homemade ice cream and the biggest dessert menu you've ever seen. This was the first time I had tried one of their cakes and I have to say that it was pretty tasty.

I went with gold cake (my favorite), Heath Bar ice cream (Andrew's favorite), chocolate cookie crumbles in between layers and whipped cream frosting.

Andrew seemed to enjoy it, although I did catch him off guard with my camera.

Surprised With A Favorite

When Andrew and I said we weren't doing gifts for Valentine's Day, I told him flowers didn't count.

Being a perceptive guy, he actually surprised me with my favorite white roses on Thursday, since he knew I wouldn't be expecting them on that day.



Beautiful as always and I'm hoping they last as long as the other dozen from December.

Happy Valentine's Day

Cody's blowing Valentine's kisses for anyone who wants them - how cute!!